He hated the fear in her eyes at that moment. She should believe in him. She should have faith in his ability to protect her. “Don’t go after him again.”
“He needs to be destroyed.”
“Not by you.”
For a moment, he stood there in silence, staring down at her. Her fear had nothing to do with her safety. It was for him. It was silly. It was touching. She cared about him. But it was silly. He was a powerful, ancient immortal born to fight, born to win. “You do not need to worry about me, Emily.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Nothing bad will happen to me. I know what I am doing.”
“He’s different. You know he’s stronger. He’s more powerful. Don’t you remember what happened to Demetri?”
Zack would never forget what happened to Demetri the night they’d rushed to Emily to save her from Erebus. He couldn’t believe his eyes. In a matter of seconds, Demetri was on his knees, struggling to get to his feet. The wounds covering his body weren’t merely shockingly severe. He’d been gravely injured. He couldn’t tell her he believed Demetri didn’t fight back. He couldn’t tell her Demetri wanted to die. It would devastate her. “I know what happened.”
“Then don’t go after him.”
She was his obsession, his sole obsession. He wouldn’t allow anything to come between them. A deep growl rumbled in his chest as his gaze narrowed on hers.
“Damn it, Zack.” She shot him a warning glare. “Why the hell do you think you need to go after him? Better yet, why do you refuse to just let me be?”
He couldn’t save her from his hunger for her body, for her blood. Unstoppable. Uncontrollable. It was a dark desire, a savage hunger too strong to be denied. “The sight of you never fails to take my breath away.”
“That’s not what I asked.” He ached to feel her teeth sink into his flesh again. As he focused on her mouth, his heartbeat quickened.
The tainted vampire blood he’d been forced to ingest during his captivity created chaos in his soul. He should’ve been strong enough to end his life to save her. “I can’t stay away from you.”
“That’s because I’m all sparkly and angelic and shit.”
“And shit?”
“Sweet. Kind. Innocent. A heart of gold. Sexy as hell. You know what I mean.” She smiled. “Oh, yeah and because you don’t know my dirty little secret.”
“What dirty little secret?” He saw the love, the desire she had for him in her eyes. His heart was beating a little too hard and too fast. He could hear it and knew she could also hear it.
She tilted her head to the side and lifted her lips in the sweetest angelic smile, a beautiful smile that screamed naughty intentions. “You’re putting your reputation on the line every time you get near me.”
He stood absolutely still. Speechless, he looked down at her for a few seconds. He took a deep breath to draw her sweet, addictive scent into his lungs. “Am I?”
“Absolutely.” She locked her fingers behind his neck and pulled him closer to her. Moving her body against his provocatively, she teased his earlobe with her tongue. “I’ve been entertaining some wickedly hot fantasies that involve naughty things like tying you up and biting you,” she whispered against his lips.
No longer able to deny his need to kiss her, to taste her, he reached around her waist and tugged her closer. Pressing her body against his firmly, he claimed her mouth with his. It was a slow, passionate kiss that just went on and on. The warmth of her body, the taste of her kiss, and the scent of her flesh drove him wild with lust. He deepened the kiss. Hard. Demanding. A brutal claiming that had her moaning and arching her body against his.
She held nothing back. She returned his kiss with fierce desire that matched his. Her lips were hot and satiny soft moving against his.
Mindful of protecting her tender flesh from his lengthened sharp incisors, he bent his head and kissed his way up her neck to her chin. It happened so suddenly. A savage thirst for her blood consumed him. It was insane. His dragon was roaring at him to fight the thirst for her blood.
She tilted her head to the side to give him access to her neck. His entire body trembled. He hesitated. Once again, his need, his hunger for her escalated. Quickly. Dangerously. He released her and took a step back. She was so damn beautiful, so exquisite in every sexy fucking way imaginable.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Everything.” Even if he warned her to run, she would never run far or fast enough to get away from him. What followed next was a silence that seemed to go on and on though it only lasted for a few seconds.
“Relax.”
“I can’t.” A small part of him, a ghost of what he’d once been, wanted to set her free, but he couldn’t do it. He wouldn’t. Nothing, including his darkened conscience, could stop him from claiming her. He was a monster. An unrecognizable monster who was unwilling to place her wellbeing above his need for her.
“I don’t really want to tie you up or bite you. I was just screwing around with you.”
Taking a deep breath, he released it with a frustrated groan. He glanced over at her sister on her terrace across the street and then he looked back at her. “It’s too dangerous for you to…”
“Stop,” she interrupted. “I don’t like being judged. And I especially fucking hate being judged by you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I know damn well why you showed up here to watch me. I’m fine, Zack. You can go do whatever you want. I don’t need a babysitter.”
Taking her hands in his, he stared down at her for a few seconds. “I am here because I want to be with you.”
“You don’t need to keep following me around.”
In one way or another, his every thought revolved around her. “I need to be near you.” She belonged to him. He belonged to her.
“No. You don’t. Everything is fine.” Her voice was low and angry.
Claiming her was never an option. Even before he’d been transformed into a monster, it was a necessity. And that was bad. For her. For him. She was everything to him. His salvation. His damnation. And every damn thing in between. “No.” He shook his head. “Nothing is okay, Emily.”
She let her breath out with a hiss. “Damn it, Zack. Stop being so fucking dramatic. I am not a mindless killer.”
“I know.”
“You don’t need to worry about me.”
“You’re the only one who matters to me.”
“You don’t need to keep following me around.” She took a deep breath and released it with a sigh. “I’m not stupid. I know I have issues, but I’m doing much better now.”
“Issues? What are you talking about?”
The anguish in her eyes broke his heart. “I am not hunting Julie.” She turned her back to him. “I’m just watching her. And I know it sounds creepy so don’t bother telling me so.”
He turned her around and held her face in his hands, forcing her to look into his eyes. “I know you’re not hunting her.” He hated that she immediately expected him to assume the worst of her. “I am watching you because I need to be near you.”
She let her breath out slowly, watching him. “You need to find something else to do with your time.”
“I don’t want to do anything else.”
“You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll never lose control again. I won’t hurt her. I don’t need a babysitter.”
He got behind her, wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “You’re wrong, Emily.” Nuzzling his chin in her hair, he took a deep breath, filling his lungs with her intoxicating sweet scent. “I know you are not a threat to your sister or any other innocent person.”
Leaning her back against his much larger, muscular body, she took a deep breath and released it with a long sigh. She relaxed for a few minutes. Then she pushed away from him, took a few steps and faced him with her chin lifted defiantly. She looked at him for a few seconds. Her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. His
breath caught in his throat and his heart thundered. “You can’t stand to be around me. You can’t stand to kiss me. You can’t stand to touch me. If you truly believe I am not a threat to anyone, why the hell do you keep following me?”
Wave after wave of desire washed over him, through him. “I can’t stand to be away from you, but I am terrified I’ll hurt you.”
“Her lips parted in a wonderfully, beautifully wicked smile. A smile that caused his heart to pound even harder. “You would never hurt me.”
Experiencing a high like no other ever known to him, his heart thundered in his ears. He reached out and gently caressed her face with the very tips of his fingers. “I could spend hours watching you.”
“Could?” She laughed softly. “You do. And, for your information, it drives me nuts.” She took a step closer to him and, tilting her head back to keep her gaze on his, she parted her lips in the sexiest, naughtiest smile he’d ever seen on her. “Really nuts.” She placed her palms on his chest.
He was mentally kicking himself in the ass, hard. He needed to get the hell away from her. “Emily,” he cautioned, “we can’t do this.”
“What’s wrong?” Her eyes danced with mischief as she moved her hands to his shoulders. “I didn’t say it drives me nuts in a bad way.”
Reaching around her waist, dragging her to him, and pressing her body against his, he bent his head to hers. “You scare the hell out of me.”
“Don’t be afraid. I like the way you watch me. It proves you want me. It proves you like me best.” She brushed her fingers across his jaw. Then, intensifying the firestorm of desire raging through his body, she got up on her toes and brushed her soft, satiny lips across his jaw. He groaned loudly, savoring the sweetness of her kiss, the heat of it. His cock swelled, hardened painfully. Her touch was more stirring, more erotic than any other. It was hotter, more satisfying than any other. “And I really enjoy knowing you like me best.” Her voice was a low, seductive whisper.
“What I feel for you is more than simply liking and wanting you.” Remaining absolutely still, holding his breath, he focused on the seductive rhythm of her heart.
She took a step back and openly studied him. It felt as if her gaze had reached out and touched him, teased him as if her fingers were playing over his skin. “Are you trying to scare me with your wicked desires and intentions, Zack?”
He intended to step away from her to put some distance between them, but he couldn’t do it. He didn’t have the strength to do it. Realizing his hands were trembling with the effort it took not to touch her, he clenched his fists at his sides. “I am scared.”
He was in serious trouble, and she was in serious trouble. As if she couldn’t feel the darkness in him poised to attack, she moved closer, pressing and moving her body against his provocatively. “Of what?”
He knew the situation was so much more dangerous than she thought. “I don’t know what I am.” That was true. He was no longer a demon. Not quite a vampire. He didn’t trust himself. He felt out of control at times. Insanity was taking over him. He only felt freedom from the insanity in his dragon form. But even in his dragon form he couldn’t escape his insane need for her. He didn’t know if she was safe with him. He had too much power. Unlimited power. To kill. To heal. And hunger for her body and for her blood with no end. “I don’t know what I am capable of doing to you.”
“If your shopping for ideas I’ve given it some thought.” Her soft, feminine curves pressed so snugly against his hard, muscular frame drove him wild with lust. Her desire filled him, burned deep inside him. “Many hours of thought.”
He couldn’t prevent the lusty growl from rumbling in his chest. “I feel too much for you, Emily.”
Her teasing laughter left him breathless. “Too much what?” She reached up and traced his jaw with her fingers. “Desire? Lust? Hunger?” She took a step back, turned away from him, walked over to a swing, and sat on it. “What makes you think I don’t feel the same hunger for you, Zack?”
“I almost killed you, Emily.” He got behind her and pulled the swing back and then let it go. “You saved my sorry ass, and I almost killed you.” He pushed her. “I couldn’t stop.”
“That’s not true. You stopped, Zack. I am alive, am I not?”
He pushed her again. “I stopped after I’d taken too much blood from you.”
“It was so long ago. You were in really bad shape. They tortured you for a long time.” She jumped from the swing and turned to face him. “You save me, Zack.” Biting her lower, downturned lip, she took a single step closer to him. “You got free from the chains, and you saved me.”
“You were only in the tunnels to save me.”
“That’s not true.” She lifted her chin. “I was looking for Demetri.”
“He led you to the tunnels and gave you the key to release me.”
She shrugged. “I am glad he did.”
He pushed his hand through his hair. “There is no excuse for allowing myself to lose control, Emily. Not with you.”
“I am sorry you feel that way. I want to be the only woman you lose control with.”
“I was born to protect you. I was born to cherish your life above my own.”
She sighed. “Are you saying you don’t cherish me?”
“I do.”
Her hands moved up his strong arms to his powerful shoulders. “You would protect me with your last breath.”
“Of course.” He couldn’t escape the truth. He couldn’t protect her from the truth. “But I am also capable of causing great harm to you.”
“As capable as I am of picking you up and tossing you over my shoulder.”
“You were willing to allow me to kill you.”
“What?” She laughed. “Are you fucking serious?”
“It’s true.”
“Damn it, Zack. For walking around and acting as if you know it all, you don’t know a damn thing. I knew you wouldn’t go too far. I knew you wouldn’t kill me. I would give my life for yours, but I would never sit back and let you kill me.”
“I felt you surrender.”
“To the belief that you would stop before you took too much blood from me.”
“I took too much.”
“You needed. I provided. You’re making a big deal out of nothing.” Her lips trailed hot kisses up the column of his throat to the underside of his chin. “I know you have issues.” She bit his chin. “I don’t care about them. I want you to want me. I need you to need me.”
At that moment, he didn’t trust himself. His hunger, his need for her body, for her blood was suddenly too fierce, too powerful to control. He placed his hands on her shoulders and took a step back to keep her at arms-length. “It’s more than simply having issues.”
“Don’t interrupt me,” she hissed between clenched teeth. “You’re not the only one with issues. I have many. There’s more to me than you know. I’ve been through some seriously fucked up shit in my life. Some you know about.” Her gaze narrowed onto his. “Some you don’t.”
“I want to know everything.”
“The good and the bad have made me stronger.”
A terrible roaring echoed in his ears. “I know you’re strong, Emily. You’re the strongest woman I have ever known.”
“Not if you believe I planned to let you kill me.”
Staring at her, he opened his mouth to respond, but he couldn’t find his voice.
4
A simple touch of his hand was enough to cause her to burn for him. He was a beautiful dark fantasy. A wonderful temptation. A dark mystery. Sexy. Strong. Capable. He was the hottest, sexiest man she’d ever seen.
Flames of desire sweeping, burning through her body, through her mind, and through her soul caused her pulse to race. He made her want to need him. He also made her want to run from him. “If you believe I am a pushover, think again.” She wanted to kick his ass. “I am not a selfless idiot, Zack.”
Looking frustrated, he frowned as he stared into her eyes. “I’v
e never thought of you as being an idiot.”
“I know you’re fucked up.” She didn’t see a reason to deny the obvious. They needed to be genuine with each other. “Really fucked up.” She took a step closer to him. “You don’t hide it as well as you probably hope you do.” She shrugged her shoulders to appear as casual as possible. “But your fucked up doesn’t bother me. It doesn’t scare me. Nothing about you scares me.”
He rubbed the bridge of his nose as if irritated. “It should.”
“Why?” She asked with growing frustration.
“You deserve better.”
“I am not interested in searching for reasons to condemn you for your faults.” She shook her head. “Do you realize you’re condemning us both?”
“How?”
“I have the same damn tainted blood in my veins.” She wanted to strangle him. “I know I have faults. And while my fucked up is not nearly as fucked up as your freakishly fucked up, I believe our fucked ups go together wonderfully.”
Shoulders slumped, Zack opened his mouth as if to say something but then he shook his head and took a step back. She let her breath out slowly, watching him retreat. She wanted to scream at him. Throw things at him. Big fucking things upside his head. She wanted to knock some sense into him. She wasn’t stupid. She understood his power, his strength. She understood his fear of what he’d become. She’d become the same damn thing. “I can’t do this with you right now.” She didn’t see much hope for them to make it if he didn’t learn to trust himself.
Her eyes wandered from his face and moved over his heavily muscled arms and chest. Once again, for the sake of self-preservation, she needed to get her ass moving. At that moment, she decided to leave, to get the hell as far away from him as possible. To stay as far away from him as possible.
A growl rumbled deep in his chest. “Forget it.” His powerful arms swept around her, dragging her so close her body melted into his heavily muscled frame. “You’ll never run far enough or fast enough to hide from me.”
“Do not mess around in my head uninvited.”
“I will always find you.” His jaw clenched as his eyes slightly narrowed.
Savage Breath of Darkness Page 3